The present invention relates to the ball return system for one type of automatic pinsetting machine and, more particularly, to the tire wheel which forms part of the system for returning the ball to the bowler.
In one type of ball return system, the ball is returned to the bowler via a covered conduit. Just before the end of the conduit nearest the bowler the ball goes up a small incline which arrests the momentum of the ball. At the top of the incline the now very slowly moving ball, encounters a rotating tire wheel which delivers the ball to the rack where the bowler picks up the ball. When the ball has picked up some of conditioning oil applied regularly to the lane as a maintenance operation, the ball may slip against the tire wheel and fall back down the incline instead of being gripped by the tire wheel and delivered to the pick-up rack. When the ball falls back down the incline, it comes to rest somewhere within the covered return conduit. All or part of the conduit must then be removed until the ball is located and removed manually. This situation, known as an "underlane," causes a serious delay and is a source of considerable annoyance to the bowlers as well as a time-consuming, money-losing inconvenience to the management.